This time in English
for a change

since 29th October 1999
this website has been
visited

times


...some of my guests
wrote to me...

...mostly in Polish,
but English is welcome too...

ver since this website was first uploaded, my friends, as well as some of the visitors to it, postulated the need to create an English version. My reply has always been - sorry, there already are excellent websites devoted to whisky in English, and there is no reason why I should duplicate them. Besides, my website was created as a reaction to the almost absolute lack of interest in whisky in Poland, as an attempt to popularise the world's leading drink in my country. Time will tell to what extent my efforts were successful.

y adventure with whisky started about thirteen years ago, when I first went to the UK. Well, it was my first visit abroad (apart from a few brief visits to East Germany and Czechoslovakia), and it looked like it was going to be the last one for quite a long time. Poland was quite a different country back then... At that time, most of us knew whisky by sight - from TV. While visiting someone in London, I was offered a drink. When asked what I would like to have, my spontaneous reply was "Scotch, please". I soon regreted it. God, how dreadful the stuff was!

ome time later, I was working for a group of European Union officials (have I told you I am a teacher of English, a translator and an interpretor?) who came to my region under one of the EU assistance programmes. One evening, at a banquet, one of them (he was Irish - well, for me then Scotch whisky originally comes from Ireland) opened a bottle of single malt Scotch whisky. He explained to me the difference between single malts and blends, told me how to enjoy single malts. I don't remember what whisky it was, but I remember it was divine. You can probably imagine how sorry I was to be at work all time. There were a few more days to go, and the last thing you need on the job is a hangover.

hat's how it really started. Later on, my visits to Britain became more and more frequent. And the late Duty Free shops were still alive and well... Each trip to Britain meant two new bottles (1 full litre each!) for my drinks cabinet, and there were times that I spent more time in London than at home. I started with the Classic Six. Fell in love with Dalwhinnie, head over heels with Lagavulin. I never got to like Cragganmore very much, which my Speyside-loving friends may hold against me. Later on, the time came for the Macallan, Balvenie and other Speysides, but my palate seems to be saying "Islay" most the time. That is, if it's not busy drinking Laphroaig or Bowmore.

t one point, my drinks cabinet was so full, I decided I had to do something about it. I invited a few friends of mine - devoted vodka drinkers until then - and introduced them to the cabinet's contents. I lived to regret it. It took them (alright, us - I was there most of the time as well) a couple of weeks to empty the cabinet. That's how my whisky missionary work started. With the two converts drunk as Lords, finding it hard to dial the taxi number to get home. And the growing number of empty bottles. It didn't take long till they had their own converts as well, and we noticed the light at the end of the tunnel. If more and more people around start drinking whisky, we'll create the demand, so the supply must follow shortly. We are still waiting for it.

n the meantime, we discovered that our southern neighbours, the Czechs, have quite a good supply of whisky in their shops. As my hometown is only 10 miles from the nearest border crossing, my next purchase was an international insurance for my car. I think we all now speak quite fluent Czech as well, especially after a dram or two at the Alka pub in Broumov (we love you, Jardo). Although we never ventured to try Printer's - the Czech whisky. Now that I'm writing this, I'm wondering why. Don't know.

inally, we decided the time has come to visit the holy place - go to Scotland and visit as many distilleries as possible. Especially the ones where admission is free, and the tour ends with a complimentary dram (Edradour, Glenfiddich - any more suggestions?). The whole thing was planned for the summer of 1999, but for various reasons beyond our control, we couldn't make it. In summer this year (2000), the D-day is planned for one of the last days of June. And it is going to be a true invasion. Beware, Scots! And the Scottish lasses...

n October last year, I decided my old computer was too obsolete, and purchased a new machine. With a modem and all the latest (then) gadgets. Got hooked on the Internet. Someone suggested developing a website of my own. I said, nay, not me, don't know anything about it. A few days later, the first version of the present site was getting uploaded. Internet wizzes will definitely spot the technical deficiencies in what they are looking at. But remember, it's not the technology I'm after. It's the drink.

hose of you who are still looking for some serious information about whisky should go to the links page. There, you will find a number of links to sometimes stunning websites devoted to whisky. All of them in English. Hope you enjoyed the story. If you would like to comment on anything that you've just read (or what you expected to read but couldn't find here), klick on the envelope on the left, and write to me. Slainte!